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Toby in conversation

Toby is turning four in a few weeks. I can't believe it! He's in such a funny in-between phase of childhood. Sometimes it feels like I'm talking to a likeminded friend—and he'll use words like "actually" and "eventually" and "so, anyway..." But then, he'll do something that reminds me how small and innocent he is, like when he plays with his imaginary friend Dun Dun or gets scared of his shadow. Here are a few sweet things he's said recently...

Man at the airport: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Toby (after thinking it over seriously): A dinosaur.

Toby's preschool teacher got married this winter, and ever since, he has been obsessed with weddings. He proposes to our babysitter, he tries on my wedding ring, he wants to look at our wedding photos every night before bed. His teachers recently wrote in his weekly school report, "We enjoyed watching Toby play. He went on a date and got engaged.” Yes. Of course he did. :)

"Daddy, are you having wine?"
"Yes."
"But don't drink all the wine! You have to save some for Mommy!"

After a brutal winter, we went for our first long bike ride, and as the wind swept through our hair, we both felt revitalized. Suddenly I heard him yell from the bike seat behind me: "Mama, I love bike rides! I love you!!! I love ALL THOSE THINGS!!!!!"

"Daddy, what kind of instrument is that?" —at the Natural History Museum, when we walked by a painting of a man holding a musket.

The other day, he held Anton's little cap in his arms and told me, "This is my baby, and she misses her cousins." And then he started whispering to the hat: "I know, I know you miss your cousins. I know. But we will see your friends today, and they are really nice."I love this little boy so much! Never grow up, Toby:)

What sweet things have your kids been chatting about recently? What are they into? I'd love to hear...

118 comments:

Oh, gosh! This made my heart leap with excitement for when our little guy starts talking (he's 11 months). As much as I want him to stay my baby, your posts about Toby remind me that the best, I'm sure, is yet to be.

I don't have children yet but I do nanny. this list is so sweet:) the little boy I babysit (5 y/o) and I were driving around in my car the other day. I could see in my rear view mirror that he was about to doze off when... Very seriously he said "Lauren, I've been wishing to know. Is sh!t a bad word or what?" So hard for me to keep my composure!;)

Aww! I love listening to my boys chatter..especially when they are in bed for the night, and suppose to be asleep. My 3 year old will hang his head over the side of the top bunk, and try and teach my 18 month old in the bottom bunk, how to talk. He'll say, " can you say car, Avraam? Can you say ball? Can you say duck? What does a duck say?" ect.The other night after about 15 minutes of ' teaching ', Ezra finally said, ' ok, avraam, I need to sleep now, ok? So can you please be quiet?' ( Avraam hadn't said anything other then 'no!' during the previous 15 minutes! )

So Sweet!!My daughter Lucy is 4 1/2. She has a Dun Dun too!Hers is a storm trooper (not a lovie, but def a friend).He got his name from the song people would sing: the Starwars music! Dun dun da dun, dun da dun, dun da dun :) I love kids nicknames for their things so much!

This is so lovely! My daughter Rowan (2.5) says some fun things I try to get on record too! I don't know where she got it, but everything she eats needs to have "SOY SAUZE". I'll be making dinner and getting hers ready and she'll ask, "Did you put Soy Sauze?" Yes. Yes we always put on soy sauze. Especially on ice cream (we only say we do - in case that wasn't clear!).

My 5 yo daughter asked me recently "Would you break the law for me if it would make me happy?" I thought a minute and said, "I guess it depends what law." She said, "Like, would you put a big block of ice and a box of tacos in the courtyard?" I said "Honey, those things aren't against the law." Her reply: "It's against NATURE'S LAWS!"

Since his dad introduced the word abracadabra a couple weeks ago while doing a little trick, my son (turned 4 three weeks ago) has been obsessed with magic. He is constantly making things disappear and reappear --"Acadadbro!" while he hides his spoon in his lap. "Mom where did the spoon go? I made it disappear!" while laughing hysterically. When the laughter subsides he looks at me very seriously, squints his eyes a little and says, "I'm magic." "I'm just kidding."

This post is too precious! I'm studying to be a speech-language therapist and I LOVE watching children's language develop. They say the most profound things sometimes! PS- What happened to Toby's chin?

Oh god! *I* almost peed when I got to the part about whether the 49'ers pee! And these comments are priceless -- a big block of ice and a box of tacos? I swear, when people get nostalgic for "simple childhood pleasures," they've completely forgotten how complex those can be!

Have you even seen this series of youtube videos? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsRk0TXYXuA I just adore the kid snippets, and Toby asking for a 'real duck' reminded me of this particular one! I'm not sure I would share this one with Toby though because I'm sure he'll be asking for a real pet penguin next!!

One of the best pieces of parenting advice I ever received came from my dad... "Write down the little things he says---I promise you will want to remember them someday."

These Toby quotes are ridiculously adorable! My favorite from my just-turned-4-year-old little boy from this weekend was, "Momma, we should put an escalator in the house. I can't just keep walking up these stairs."

I love his birthday list! So cute! I remember once when I was little I wrote on my Christmas list "a real looking dog". My aunt got me a huge dog stuffed animal. I also put baby brother or sister on my list many times.

My little Henry will be 2 on Friday. Last week on a cloudy morning I took him out of the car and he said "Momma where stars??" Pointing to the sky. I said "they are behind the clouds with the moon" Then he got excited, yelled "cows!" And started looking around :) I must have said "mooooooooooooon" lol

also have you seen the Convos With my 2 Year Old videos? They're actual conversations between a man and his daughter reenacted by two full-grown men. SO funny. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k1qPaDJHOs

So sweet! My little guy is just over 3, his name is Jude and he just learned how to sing "Hey Jude" but gets a kick out of replacing Jude with snail and then he laughs and laughs and laughs. Its hysterical. He is also really into whales....he can name most of them and loves watching them on the Blue Planet documentary series. Its a nice change from bubble guppies.

This is so familiar! Our oldest son turned four a couple weeks ago and just this weekend, he came into the kitchen while I was doing dishes, slumped down at the table and said, "So, what IS the deal?" Ha!

alicia, he fell while running down a hill in riverside park. it got sliced on a little piece of rock, unfortunately! we took him to urgent care and the doctor taped it up. it's healing really well and i think the bandaid will come off tonight :) thanks for asking!

Mine will be 4 in 2 months I'm going to be so sad when stops saying things like 'bullbozers are the coolest' and 'mom, you're my fweind, right?' I'll be sad when I can't pull him into my lap at any given time and he lets me squeeze on him. All part of growing up and I just try to remember age 5 will also have hilarious moments and incredible milestones, right?

You know.. if he had a real house.. he could have a real duck..lol. We have some geese in our pond:).. there were a couple of mallards in there the other day too. Nature is fun.

I was watching a show the other day about "brooklyn grange". It's a rooftop farming company in NY. They talked about how so many people are very disconnected from things by living in the city. She mentioned one child who said he didn't see how the environment mattered to him.. because it was out there.. in the country. It was interesting to see that business. You ought to try to go see it sometime.. pretty cool.

I'm saving this comment thread as an instant pick-me-up -- it's making me cry with laughter reading some of them!

My girl is 2-almost-3, which is apparently a goldmine age for hilarious and sweet quotes. Just from this past weekend:

1) she started asking for paper to "write notes" to mommy and daddy. She just draws mountains, but talks out loud while she does it, and every note is invariably this: "Dear Mommy. Give hugs and kisses. I SAID HUGS AND KISSES!"

2) grabbing a cloth napkin and wiping the kitchen island, while singing, "cleaning, cleaning is my job! making it shiny and clean!" then firmly telling the island, "don't you get messy again!" (we didn't teach her any of this -- thank you daycare!)

3) And my favorite: we've been talking about middle and last names lately, so we were trying to practice them: "What's your name?" "Zoe!" "That's right! And what's your long name?" "ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOE." :)

When my triplets turned 3, I overheard them having a small argument in their bedroom about whose birthday it was. Today they were discussing weather and one claimed sunny days as his favorite, the other said she likes it cold, and the last said rainy. It was just a funny very serious conversation to me.I also laugh when my boisterous one calls out "oh yeah, baby" when I hand him something sweet.

Such a sweet little boy you have! So so cute!Our nearly four year old granddaughter will frequently say, "what the heck!" Pretty much anything she says melts us into a puddle of goo.Our youngest is 20 but he is a very tall special needs kid and every so often he'll say something that still catches me by surprise.On Friday we ordered a 5 cheese pizza.As he was devouring his pizza he said, "this is no ordinary cheese."

Toby is so cute!! He's a couple months older than my oldest son, Athan. I'm constantly reeling between frustration (NO I WON'T!), eye-rolling (I'm NOT going to put my pants on ... until I put my underwear on.) and delight. My two boys and I snuggle in my bed most mornings after we're all awake and Athan, who was wearing his Grandpa's ball cap and pretending to be a truck driver, was talking in a deep voice and doing something funny with his hands near his eyes. "Whatcha doing?" I asked. "I'm pretending my eyes are green," he said in his deep voice. =)

Toby is so cute!! He's a couple months older than my oldest son, Athan. I'm constantly reeling between frustration (NO I WON'T!), eye-rolling (I'm NOT going to put my pants on ... until I put my underwear on.) and delight. My two boys and I snuggle in my bed most mornings after we're all awake and Athan, who was wearing his Grandpa's ball cap and pretending to be a truck driver, was talking in a deep voice and doing something funny with his hands near his eyes. "Whatcha doing?" I asked. "I'm pretending my eyes are green," he said in his deep voice. =)

Our almost 5 year old is VERY excited to be a big brother. He often talks directly to the baby in my tummy and surmises what it might be like in the "dark and tight space." "He wants to get out but knows he needs to wait longer to grow" or "He likes it when you eat the yummy food because that makes him move and wiggle." But the other day made my heart melt… He told me that when he was in heaven waiting to be born he was so glad that God chose our family for him to go to because that's the one he wanted. I was astonished by his musings and asked if the new baby was doing the same thing. He replied by telling me that he already knows he is coming to our family and is so excited to meet us! William…wise beyond his years!

Hilarious! I love the grown up language so much! And my husband & I try not to laugh when our 4.5 year old, Connor, gets all serious & frowny with us or his big bro:

"Guys, guys, I'm talking right now. Be quiet." (He usually stands on the couch with his hands in the air while saying this.)or"Well, actually, mommy, you're very wrong."(When told it's time for bed!)or "U not coming to my red/silver house/grocery store/helicopter."(we don't have a red or silver house or grocery store or helicopter but apparently he does!)

A couple months ago, just as I was cursing the nap gods for failing me that afternoon, my two-year-old leaned over from his mixing stool in the kitchen, rested his head on my shoulder, rubbed my back and said, "This is my love. My love is my mommy." And my life was made.

Of course, this morning went like this...Leo: Did you fart, Mommy?Me: No. Did you?Leo: Daddy probably farted.... So it's not all romance.

When my niece was a wee one, we were eating grilled mushrooms and watching fashion TV nochalantly- it was the first time she tried grilled mushrooms. She was intensely intrigued at the sight of them. In addition, lo and behold she ended up in Vogue magazine quite a few times and the likes as a child model however she is now starting on her path to becoming a pediatrician (whoops, got carried away) - and I recall her looking at me inquisitively asking, "Where are they going?" She was referring to the models on the runway. I still chuckle.

Love love love. Sweet wise Toby. I'm so in love with this whole process as they begin to talk. My two-year-old has begun to be able to describe the world in this way that blows my mind - yesterday he said, after watching my husband and I very closely, "Mommy loves Daddy". Some of the cuteness is in the misteps, but also in the way he sees so clearly.

I can't imagine what it'll be like when my baby girl and he are old enough to have conversations, like Anton and Toby will be very soon.

My son Hank is 9 months now, so we're working with "Mama", "Dada", and "Car". Lots of Car. Car, car, caaaarrrrr. Big into cars.

But my niece Lucy is 4 1/2 and does say some very profound things some times... I keep a drawing she made for me, and on it was dictated (via my sister), "When you have the heart of a dog, you can have one". If only we all had the heart of a dog!

We took my 3 year old to his first baseball game and I was exomplaing to him that someone was at bat. Me: Oh no, he missed!Isaac: Is he done? Is he going to sing now?

LOL! Too many Disney movies.

Also, when we first put him in his big boy bed, I checked up on him in the monitor and saw him holding his pillow and pacing backa nd forth in his room. I went in there and said He should be in bed. He replied: I can't find it! We put a nightlight in there that night. lol

Ah, he is such a sweetheart! My nephew is four and is also a little nut. I spoke with him on the phone yesterday and he was drinking chocolate milk; "This is the best chocolate milk in the whole world and South America."

My son is just getting the hang of toilet training and yesterday peed in the garden. Then he was mumbling and announced "mama I have to tell the scaffold I peed in the garden!" (Scaffold for renovations at our house)

Jo, I just loved your post. Isn't it amazing that our children can create this physical jolt in our hearts when we think about how much we love them. It really hurts some times.My son was truly a miracle baby - I wanted to post about it on last Mondays' post about infertility but feared it might be seen as insensitive. I was 40 years old, several long years into a very tough TTC journey... many failed IVFs, and and had come to the hard decision to be all done. Then bam- out of the blue - I found out I was pregnant. My son is now 5 and is love from my life ( shh, don't tell my hubby).

Last year my son said to me" Y'know Mummy: I could never stop loving you because I have so much love in my heart it could never get out."Be still my beating heart!

Congrats Joanna... your Toby is a such a sweet boy. My boy turned four last week and it made me feel sad for a fleeting moment... would you mind telling me which bike seat you use for Toby - i'm struggling with finding a seat for bigger kids.. thanks for your beautiful blog

Congrats Joanna... your Toby is a such a sweet boy. My boy turned four last week and it made me feel sad for a fleeting moment... would you mind telling me which bike seat you use for Toby - i'm struggling with finding a seat for bigger kids.. thanks for your beautiful blog

maria, i really l like the yepp seats for older kids. they're definitely a splurge, but i think they're worth it—comfy for the kids, great design, not too bulky for the bike overall and they can withstand rain/snow/whatever without getting moldy or too dirty. good luck! xoxo

My two-year-old, Violet is fascinated by the moon. She points it out to us every evening, and when it's still there in the morning she shouts at it to get its night-night and go to bed. She also loves babie and insects, so it only makes sense that she calls the ants crawling on our peonies 'the baby ants'. We go outside every day and check on their progress, and today they finally bloomed! She was very excited to see what her baby ants accomplished. She also loves helping her daddy in his wood shop, and she even has her own screwdriver. She uses it to fix ev-er-y-thing. Luckily our elderly neighbors thought it was sweet when she was using it to "fix" their downspout after she saw her daddy unclogging ours.

Ahhhh, that's the best age! I miss the days when my little sister was four and said funny things like this all the time. Now she's ten and still thinks she's in that cute phase, even though she's not. Cherish it while you can!

Kids! I rem my friend telling me about the time her son noticed himself naked in the mirror for the first time and he almost had a heart attack. The kid is Irish and has blue/white skin and his veins were very visible throughout his Whole body....he was so upset and shouted 'Mammy Mammy, I am cracking up'..so funny!

Made me laugh! What a sweetheart. The other day at supper my five year old grabbed the ketchup bottle, gave it a hug and said (very passionately), "you made my day, ketchup! You make all my days and food good!"

He's so cute! I adore this age when they can suddenly express themselves so well and still live in their own little world a lot.I don't have kids yet but my boss often shares what his 2.5 year old has been up to on the weekends. Recently they visited the zoo and their boy stayed by one enclosure and continued to educate other visitors about the animals, while his parents relaxed a way off. Suddenly he switched topics and started dejectedly asking random strangers if they had any food, he was so hungry. His parents were so embarrassed :D

I totally get the "don't ever grow" part. My almost 3 year old talks all the time and says funny stuff, like the other day when he told me that his heart is beating and I need to take him tot the doctor. My almost 6 year old is more "philosophical" now. Here I shared some of the conversations I hear around the house:http://joyacoustics.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/the-patient-and-scientist.html

And things will get even more interesting for you when the boys will start talking to each other...

As we were lying in bed the other night, laughing and talking about our day, my 6-year old son said "Maman, your laugh looks like songs." His first language is French so he comes out with these cute little expressions like "close the light."

These Toby posts melt.my.heart. He seems like such a sweetie. Hope his chin heals fast!Our son is 26 mos. and thanks to goodnight good night construction site can do a running commentary on most vehicles. The other day we were out for a walk, and he said "Oh Man!" (his dad taught him that) "a bull DOZER" (emphasis on dozer for some reason). "I drive it".

I have an entire blog dedicated to the hilarious and insane things my 3.5 year old says. I would be SO honored if you took a look at it. I started it as a way to record all of the funny stuff she says - I hope she will love reading it one day!

My 3 year old has been telling me "not quiet yet" when I ask him if he has done something. And when he does not want to do something he tells me "no sir" I explain- "you say, no ma'am to a lady" and he says "you're not a ma'am, you're a mom" and then continues to call me sir:)

Oh my gosh, I love this age! And I love these posts :)I have a son this age and feel the same way as you. He can be such an old soul, then says in his baby voice, "Mama, I love you." And I remember how small he is. This weekend he was telling me a story about his Legos and said, "I was building these blocks and AT ONE POINT they started to wobble..." At one point?!?Ah, I love these kids so much...

Oh and we had a falling and stitching incident this weekend too. Busted lip. Lots of blood. My stomach dropped. I'm not going to handle the older "rougher" years. Though when I told him he looked like a "bruiser" he said, "I'm not a bruiser. I'm just a nice guy." My sweet lover, not a fighter ;-)

Toby is such a cutie, he reminds me of our son, who's the only child we have. He'll use adult words all the time because I never baby talk him and we're pretty much the main people in his life and we talk to him as if we're talking to another adult :). All of my friends used to be impressed with his vocab...

My son at 4 year old wanted to be a train engineer (thanks to Thomas LOL)..now at 8, he wants to be a scientist..and part time architect..

I love kids, they have such beautiful and innocent minds and imagination.

This was so sweet. The other day my 3 year old climbed into my bed and whispered to me, "Mommy, I made you a card... and a gift... and I'm going to give you chocolate." He was also making jokes last night. We saw some deer, and he said "They went into the toy store!" and then cracked up.

This was so sweet. The other day my 3 year old climbed into my bed and whispered to me, "Mommy, I made you a card... and a gift... and I'm going to give you chocolate." He was also making jokes last night. We saw some deer, and he said "They went into the toy store!" and then cracked up.

Joanna, I loved this (and all of your work!) I wonder how you answered the musket question, and if you have views in general on little boys and toy guns? Would love to see a post on it (though I suppose it might be controversial...)

My son Josiah told me (as he was getting into bed last night and trying to think of what song he wanted me to sing), "You know how the TV is loading (we have Internet TV) when we're waiting for a movie? I'm doing that now. My mind is trying to figure out what song I want."

My 6 year old is quite innocent and says the sweetest and sometimes most profound things--out of the blue one day he told me that "in heaven, it's always yes." I bet he's right. Another sweet moment was when I was putting on my eye makeup and he wanted to know why. I explained absentmindedly that "society" kind of expects women to do this. He wanted me to explain "society" and I tried. He said "Mommy, you shouldn't listen to them; they're not the boss of you." So smart.

Wow, awkward bursts of laughter at my work desk right now...So, so funny! And how hilarious it will be in one or five or 15 years when you read this post again. Toby is so sweet; and I wish that everyone, young or old, can speak with the same honesty!